Hi Pete
I don't know if I would call that old puddle steel 1095 or even high
carbon, I've worked and welded some of that old iron and steel, and it
was altogether other material, I remember rod welding some iron gate
from a castle, the stuff looked like bundled wire when it was melting
in the arc, not nice stuff to work with in that sense.
I also remember My Dad telling me that early in his life when he had
to forge weld pieces together, he said " you could take the iron out
of the fire and pick up the hammer from the floor and still weld it
together, but now, if you are not ready and real quick you're to
late", also steel was expensive, they would use only small pieces and
lay them in, like on a shovel or axe or other tools.

But yes I have the same experience with hardening and not tempering,
it works much better and in that it stays sharp longer, haven't broken
any yet but I do expect that to happen though, I'm willing to pay the
price.

What kind of a power hammer do you have ??
We had one with a 3 foot cast flywheel on a crank with an adjustable
rod, connected to a rocking stack of leaf springs that was moving the
hammer shaft up and down, and all that was connected to a riveted
steel plate body that was filled with concrete I think, not sure of
that anymore, it was an antique alright but worked just fine when
needed.
Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo


He is emulating 1600's and 1700's usually,
so he uses only 1095 for tools (since that's what would have been
available).